It's already July, how did that happen? So what I have achieved this year? Umm...played a lot of games, watched TV and gained some weight, that's good, right? Last night I finished playing The Last of Us Part 2. Playing it was very interesting and was certainly very different from the first installment, but was that a bad thing?
The other evening I wanted takeout, I ask my better half Starfish Nolls what she wanted, now in my head, I was waiting for her to say what did I want and in my head, I was thinking pizza. She then suggested Spitjack's, it gave me pause, I checked the menu and went for a chicken and ribs combo with vegetables, mash, and an extra bit of garlic mash. It was so tasty it was crazy and am still thinking about it now (damn I'm hungry). I guess what I am saying is I went in one with an idea and when I allowed myself to be more open I was both surprised and happy. Playing The Last of Us Part 2 I found myself asking was I happy and surprised or should I have just ordered a pizza?
Story
The Last of Us Part 2 picks up a few years after the first game. We see both Ellie and Joel a little older and living in Jackson, a secure safe place with everything they could possibly want, life is good. As is often the way it is when life is good and we let our guard is down that we can get sucker-punched. Early on Ellie witnesses a brutal murder and so starts rising in her darkness that can only be quenched by revenge.
The story sees Ellie leaving the safety of Jackson to exact revenge, half the game is spent from her perspective and the second half you play as Abby the person she wishes to punish. Naughty Dog does a great job of making you feel conflicted about the two characters. It is hard to describe either character as being completely good or bad. By the end of the game, I was left struggling who's side to be on. The game has a lot of complexities to it. Revenge is damaging not only to those it is exacting it on but those are exacting it. There are many people I felt compassion and sorrow for and nothing was ever black and white but constant shades of grey.
Reading reviews and how people generally felt there a bit of backlash regarding Ellie being gay (which had already been established in the first game). Never did I feel it was dealt with ham-fistedly or hammered home, it was what it was. When it came to the transgender character I did feel it was slightly shoehorned in. There should have either be no mention of it or perhaps create a bit more discussion about it. That being said this element did not stop me in any way enjoying the story. The only real gripe I had was the endings, it felt a bit like Lord of The Rings Return of the King (not the extended edition) and was never sure if the ending I was seeing was the last one.
Overall Naughty Dog a great job of the story, it was thought-provoking, never black and white, and often toyed with my emotions. Any good sequel should be better in every way to its predecessor and Naughty Dog managed to do this perfectly in relation to the story.
Visuals
The visuals are...wow. The game looks sharp, organic and the world is really interesting to explore. There are lush forests, remnants of the old world in the form of a torn-up city, crude camps, and more sophisticated from along with dark dank areas which you want nothing more than to escape as quickly as possible. With some games it feels like you are just moving from one set piece to another, playing The Last of Us Part 2 never felt that way to me.
Overall the visuals are out of this world if you take that the studio that brought us Crash Bandicoot also brought us Uncharted and The Last of Us it is almost unbelievable. The team they have working on the visuals but in so much time to make the game look perfect. I am salivating at the idea of Naughty Dog making a follow up if for no other reason than the visuals.
Music
There are two distinct music styles used in the game, the first is hard plucked acoustic guitar to convey somber tones and gives the player pause, the other is an array of musical instruments to create a feeling of danger, threat, and sometimes intense action. The music is skillfully used in the game helping to heighten situations and but is never a constant but instead used subtly. The score is created by Argentinian composer Gustavo Santaolalla who has been part of a number of TV Series and Films including; 21 Grams, Brokeback Mountain, and the series Making A Murder, and the band's Iris, Soluna, and Wet Picnic. The additional music is supplied by Mac Quayle who worked on Mr. Robot, American Horror Story, The Best Friend, and Bad Samaritans to know just a few.
The soundtrack runs just shy of two hours and in my opinion, is the best video game soundtrack of the year. While to me they are all great tracks there are a few that stood out for me; 'Eye for an eye',
'They're still out there', 'The WLF', and 'The Island'.
Overall an amazing soundtrack that enhanced an already great experience.
Gameplay
Onto the breast and ribs (wow without the food analogy at the beginning that would sound creepy). The game has you take on the role of both Ellie and Abby in the third-person just like the first installment. The game at its core is a survival game that feels a lot more action-packed than before. The game can be played fairly stealthily but sometimes things get loud and you got to do what you got to do.
With Ellie, her close combat weapon is a flick knife, the strongest I have ever seen and I slit a lot of throats and it never broke once. Abby has the ability to make shivs but these are only really helpful against the infected enemies known as clickers, for the most part, she uses her powerful arms to break necks. They both have similar weapons, hands guns, rifles, and bombs but I did prefer Abby's. With Abby, she has a crossbow which is powerful and you can retrieve the bolts, unlike Ellie's bow where once the arrows are fired they are gone. Ellie has the more subtle rifle whereas Abby has the semi-automatic rifle which one you get the scope equipped it was one of my number one weapons next to the hunting pistol. Standing back looking at the two characters' weapons Ellie favors a bit more subtly verses Abby's which are noisier and more powerful, which speaks to my play style.
Manuals are back, these can be found in the world and unlock skill trees to improve the character, take enough pills and you can unlock everything you need. Ellie's had some great ones for increasing health, and Abby has the ability to craft certain ammo which is really handy later on.
The combat and cover system works.....mostly. Similar to the first game the cover works most of the time but sometimes the character won't stick to cover or points the wrong way. Occasionally you would perform an action behind cover and then stand up and get spotted. NPC's traveling with you can almost walk straight in front of an enemy and can't be seen, which is jarring if when you are being stealthy. The close-quarters combat works and can be a lot of fun but sometimes an action won't be recognized and messes everything up. Gunplay works okay as well but even with certain upgrades shooting can feel slightly inaccurate.
Overall the gameplay is a lot of fun and while some annoyances from part one still linger in part two there are improvements and for the most part, did not stop me enjoying the game.
Final Thoughts
So, after thirty hours how did I feel? Happy, sad, and many other emotions. The story was a brilliant experience and while occasionally it felt a little longer in places than it needed it was still enjoyable. The visuals were incredible and the world felt so organic which made everything I did seem more important. The music was somber, dark, and intense and made for a really good soundtrack. The gameplay was pretty strong but there were certain areas that could use improvement, hopefully, if there is a part three these will get ironed out. Is the game perfect? No, but it is pretty damn close, this one gets a 4 out of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment